DA calls on Dept of Social Services to do more to help the destitute affected by Covid-19

Issued by Jane Sithole – Spokesperson on Social Development
02 Jul 2021 in Press Releases

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga calls on the Department of Social Services (DSD) to use the Community Nutrition and Development Centres to help the families of the 113 000 people who lost their jobs in the province as a result of Covid-19. 

 

Currently in Mpumalanga, 59 422 people accessed food through programmes of this department, such as ECDs, drop-in centres, Community Nutrition and Development Centres (CNDCs). 

  

The Quarterly Labour Force Survey for Q1 painted a rather grim outlook on the economy of Mpumalanga and its potential to provide an enabling environment for the residents of this province, as between January to March 2020 and January to March 2021 the province shed 113 000 jobs. 

 

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which was recently released by Statistics South Africa, further highlighted the vulnerability of residents within our province as the CPI increased by 5.6% between May 2020 to May 2021. 

 

In the above-mentioned time frame the following food items increased nationally by the following percentages: 

 

Oils and fats: 20% 

Meat: 8.5% 

Fish: 7% 

Processed foods: 7% 

Unprocessed: 6.8% 

Vegetables: 6% 

Milk, eggs and cheese: 5.7% 

Breads and cereals: 4.9% 

 

The items mentioned above forms the backbone to all of our food baskets and the increases in these essential goods could mean that more households will have to stretch their budgets. Additionally, there will be more of the residents in our province going to bed hungry. 

 

The DA calls on government to do all in its power to provide an enabling economic environment and to support those who are destitute. It is from this perspective which we condemn the DSD’s inability to stick to the target on the number of people accessing food through CNDCs, and thereafter scapegoating the reduction in the number of beneficiaries on the Covid-19 regulations during the fourth quarter. 

 

It is important to note that the Portfolio Committee on Health and Social Development in relation to the above “sought to know how the Covid-19 regulations affected the accessibility of food through CNDCs as the number of people in the same gathering had increased during the period under review and that the increase was as a result of the lockdown”. 

 

Given the negative economic outlook for our province, and alongside the increasing job losses and rising cost of living, the DA will write to the Premier, Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, asking her to detail a plan for growing jobs in the province and increase measures through the CNDCs to assist all of those who are destitute, including families of the 113 000 who lost their jobs.